Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Pope: War is the work of evil, there is no "god of war"

War is the work of the evil one, "there is no god of war" and
therefore religions, overcoming their divisions, are to pray for peace
in the common belief that "God is peace."It is with this spirit that Pope Francis travels to Assisi today, as
he himself explained at Mass this morning in Casa Santa Marta, before
leaving for the Umbrian town. To pray until we feel the "shame" of the
war, not "shut our ears" to the cry of pain of men, women and children
who suffer, while bombs drop stopping all humanitarian aid.
"Today - he said - men and women of all religions, we will go to Assisi.
Not to put on a show: simply to pray and pray for peace" these are the
first words of the Pope’s homily. Francis spoke of how in a letter "to
all the bishops of the world he asked that today prayer meetings be
organized "inviting" Catholics, Christians, believers and all men and
women of good will, of all religions, to pray for peace ", since" the
world is at war! The world is suffering”.

"Today's First Reading ends like this: He who shuts his ear to the
cry of the poor will himself also call and not be heard”. If we now
shut our ears to the cry of these people who are suffering under the
bombs, suffering the exploitation of arms dealers, it may be that when
it happens to us we will not receive any response. We cannot shut our
ears to the cry of pain of our brothers and sisters who suffer from
war".
We “do not see" the war. "We are frightened" by "some acts of
terrorism" but "this has nothing to do with what happens in those
countries, in those lands where the bombs fall and fall day and night "
and "kill children, old, men, women…". "The war is far away?". "No! It
'very close "because" the war touches everyone”. "War begins in the
heart. " "May the Lord give us peace in our hearts, remove from us all
desire for greed, covetousness, to fight. No! Peace, peace! May our
heart be a heart of a man or woman of peace. And beyond religious
differences: All , all, all! Because we are all children of God. And God
is a God of peace. There is no god of war: He who makes war is evil, it
is the devil who wants to kill everyone".
Faced with this situation there can be no divisions of faith. Francis
said, we must not just thank God “because maybe the war does not affect
us." "We must also think of others." We think today is not only the
bombs, the dead, the wounded; but also to the people - children and the
elderly - which cannot get humanitarian aid or food to eat. They cannot
get the medicines. They are hungry, sick! Because the bombs prevent
this. And, while we pray today, it would be nice that all of us feel
ashamed. Ashamed of this: that humans, our brothers, are able to do
this. Today a day of prayer, penance, crying for peace; a day to hear
the cry of the poor. This cry that opens the heart to compassion, love
and save us from selfishness.